Data board and data recording machine

ABSTRACT

A data board and data recording machine. The data board is insertable into the data recording machine. The data board has operator positionable stop means and the data recording machine has printing wheels connected to sensing rods; the sensing rods sense the position of the stop means and set the printing wheels in response thereto. A printing member plate and print receiving form are carried by the board and the information on the printing wheels and plate are printed on the form.

United States Patent 1 Sims [ 1 Jan. 9, 1973 [54] DATA BOARD AND DATARECORDING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Art T. Sims, Gates Mills, Ohio [73]Assignee: Addressograph-Multlgraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio [22]Filed: Nov. 10, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 197,547

[52] US. Cl. ..l01/45, 101/269, 346/78 [51] Int. Cl ..B4lf 3/20, B41j5/06 [58] Field of Search ..101/96, 45, 269; 179/90 B,

179/90 BB, 90 CS; 235/61.12, 91; 346/43,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-Robert E.Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-E. M. Coven Attorney-Russell L. Root et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A data board and data recording machine. The data board isinsertable into the data recording machine. The data board has operatorpositionable stop means and the data recording machine has printingwheels connected to sensing rods; the sensing rods sense the position ofthe stop means and set the printing wheels in response thereto. Aprinting member plate and print receiving form are carried by the boardand the information on the printing wheels and plate are printed on theform.

13 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 9 197a SHEET 2 OF 2 ART TS/MSJuvaygzm BY W Y (yflz ATTURNE') DATA BOARD AND DATA RECORDING MACHINEThis is a continuation of application Ser. No. 887,811 filed Dec. 24,I969, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the artof data recording, and more particularly to the recording of both fixedand variable information on a form, such as information from an embossedcredit card and the amount of a purchase made therewith.

With the advent of embossed credit cards for purchasers, there wasdeveloped recording devices which would receive the credit card andwhich have adjustable printing wheels thereon. The devices are soarranged and constructed that they receive the embossed card, and theprinting wheels therein are set by means of levers to the amount of thepurchase. The information on the credit card and the amount of thepurchase is then printed on a form. This has proved to be a veryeffective and efficient method of handling credit purchases at leastduring normal periods of volume. However, as the number of credit cardsincreases accompanied by the proportionate increase in use of therecording devices, it often becomes necessary for the clerks to wait touse the recording devices, especially during peak periods of sales, thuscausing delay to the customer. While the purchase of extra recordingdevices would alleviate this problem, these devices are expensive andoften the cost is not justified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention there is provided arelatively inexpensive data, board which is adapted to hold the creditcard and the form and which has a setting device thereon for setting avariable amount. A recording machine is provided which will accept thedata board register the amount set on thedata board and print thisamount together with the information carried by the credit card on theform. In this way, each clerk can be provided with a data board toinitially arrange the credit card and form thereon and set on the boardthe amount of the sale. Then each use of the recording machine will' beonly for recording this preset data on a form. This will eliminate thetime required'to insert the credit card and form into .the' recordingmachine and set the amount on the recording machine. Thus, there will beless delay since the use time of the machine will be reduced for eachtransaction allowingeach machine to serve more'clerks. I

This invention may be considered as a data board which operates inconjunction with adata recording machine, or alternatively it may beviewed as a combination of the data board and machine. In either eventthe machine has variable printing means such-as rotatable wheels withprinting characters around the.

ing form which are placed in superposed relationship and with openingsthrough which the printing means of the data machine may project whenthe data board is fully inserted into the machine. The board includes aprogram means, which in the preferred embodiment consists of movableobstruction stops, structured for exerting control upon the sensor meansas the board is inserted into the machine. The program means is variableby the operator to determine a desired combination of the characterprinting means through response of the sensor means to the program meanson the board.

Other features and objects, together with a fuller understanding of theinvention may be had from the following description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a data recordingboard according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along a plane designatedby the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 on page 2 is aplan view on an enlarged scale of a portion .ofFIG. 1, partially in section and with parts broken away; showing oneslide selector and the operation thereof;

FIG. 4 on page 1 is a perspective view of a data recording machineadapted to record the data carried by the data board;

FIG. 5 is a somewhat schematic representation of the linkage betweensensing levers and printing wheels of the machine of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is" a side elevation view taken substantially along the planedesignated by the line 66 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a section view taken substantially along the plane designatedby the line 7-7 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 on page 1 is a sectional view showing a modification of the slidemechanism shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS ing slot 14, a spring clip 16,a printing wheel opening I8, and dater opening 20. A data recording formis shown in phantom outline and designated generally as 22. The form 22is held to the board by means of the spring clip I6 and overlies thestation plate opening 14, the lower part' of the receiving slot 12, theprinting wheel opening 18, and the dater opening 20. Thus, the

information carried on the lower portion of the credit card and on thestation plate, and on any printing wheels extending in the openings 18and 20, can be transferred to and printed on the form 22.

In they lower right hand portion of the data board 10, there is provideda' variable data storage or actuator mechanism designated generally as24. The actuator or operator mechanism 24 includes a plurality oflongitudinally extending slots 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, and 260 formed in thetop deck of frame member 11". Each of these slots is adapted to receivea presettable slide or actuator member designated generally as 28a, 28b,28c, 28d and 28e respectively. A retainer plate 30 underlies the slots26 and provides support for the slide members 28, and has elongatedslots 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d and 3le corresponding to slots 26a 26erespectively. The ends of these slots 310 through 312 are flared or bellmouthed. See FIG. 1.

One of the slide members, 280, is shown in detail in FIG. 2, the othermembers being of similar construction. Slide member 28a includes aroller member 32a which has a stem 34a extending upwardly therefromthrough the slot 26a. A second depending actuator stem or input member36a projects through slot 310 in the retainer plate. A cap or key 40a iscarried by the stem 34a and is exposed on top of the board.

As can be best seen in FIG. 3, a detent member 42a is provided which hasequally spaced grooves 44a. The detent member 42a is biased toward theroller member 32a, by means of a pair of springs 46a. The springs bearagainst a downwardly depending flange 48a. Flange 48a runs parallel tothe slots 26a and 31a. Thus upon movement of the slide member 28a in theslots, it will be detented in positions corresponding to the grooves 44aon the detent 42a.

The other slide members 28b 28e are constructed and detented similar tothe construction and detenting of slide member 28a.

Referring again to FIG. 1, a face plate 50 is provided on the top of theframe 11 around the caps 40 and numbered from to 9, each numbercorresponding with one of the grooves in the underlying detent members42a. Thus, the slide members 28 can be moved by grasping the caps 40 andsliding them up or down as viewed in FIG. 1. The detent member 42a willyieldingly secure the slide member in the selected groove 4411. Thus anycombination of numbers can be set on the variable data storage mechanism24, merely by moving the slide members 28 to the desired numbers. Theseslide members will thus be programmed to a specific number combination,depending upon their position.

The programmed variable number set in the data board, together with theinformation on a credit card carried in the slot 12 and the informationon the station plate in theslot 14, can be recorded by data recordingmachine shown in FIG. 4 and designated generally as 52. The machine canalso record preset dates if desired.

The data recording machine 52 includes a frame structure 54 which mountsa printing and impression mechanism. The purpose of this invention, aspreviously stated, is to make possible the transfer of informationpreviously'stored in a data recording board into the data recordingmachine 52 without requiring the operator to take the time or thought tomake the machine adjustment when the machine is approached forperforming a recording function. The genesis of this invention is in theconcept of a sensor means carried in the data recording machine 52 whichis responsive to preset primary data devices carried by the board 10.The previously described slide members 28 illustrate a practicalconstruction which serves as actuating devices for the sensor means, andthe sensor means illustrated in the preferred embodiment is constitutedby a printing mechanism which includes five sensing rods 56a, 56b, 56c,56d and 56e which correspond in position and spacing to the slidemembers 28a 28c respectively of the data board 10. The sensing rods 56a56c include respectively upturned tabs or legs 58a 58 exposed above andextending through slots 60a 60c formed in the frame 54. See FIG. 5 for aperspective illustration of the rods. Each of these sensing rods 56a 56eis connected respectively to variable character printing wheels 62a 62c.These character printing wheels 62a 62e have formed thereon printingcharacters 0 through 9.

The character printing wheels 62a 62d are operatively connected througha gear and link mechanism, one of which is shown somewhat schematicallyin FIG. 5. The character wheel 62a is provided with a gear 640 securedto one side face thereof, and both which are journalled'on shaft 65a.The gear 640 meshes with a gear 660, which gear in turn is connected bya rod 67a to a companion gear 68a. Gear 68a meshes with a gear 70a,journalled on shaft 65a. The gear 700 has secured on the side facethereofa gear 72a which engages rack teeth 74a formed on the lowersurface of the sensing rod 56a. Thus longitudinal movement of the rod5611 will be translated through the gears 72a, 70a, 68a, 66a, and 64a,to rotate the printing character 'wheel 62a to the desired position.Each of the other sensing rods 56b 566 is similarly connected to itsrespective printing character wheel 62b 62e.

The data recording machine 52 also is provided with a dater showngenerally at 76 in FIG. 4. The dater consists of conventional rotatablediscs extending through the top of the frame 54 having months, days, andyears thereon which can be changed by using the finger to rotate thediscs.

The datarecording machine 52 has a conventional platen and actuatinghead designated generally as 78. The platen may be either motor drivenor hand driven and is adapted to apply pressure on top of the form tocause the characters displayed on the credit card printing device, thestation plate, the variable printing wheels, and the dater to be printedon the form. This action will now be described in the context of aretail purchase at credit. Industrial uses will be obvious from thisillustration. I

When the customer makes a purchase, the clerk is provided with a databoard 10 of the type shown in FIG. 1. A station plate will be mounted inthe station plate slot 14. This will contain such information as thename of the store or establishment and may also include clerkidentification. The station plate will be relatively permanently mountedin the board, i.e., this plate is not changed with each customer butwill remain with the clerk essentially for the entire period which theclerk has the board.

The customer, when making the credit purchase, will present the creditcard printing device to a clerk who will then place it in the creditcard receiving slot 12. The clerk will then place the proper form 22under the spring clip 16 so that it willoverlie the bottom portion ofthe credit card and the entire station plate. The clerk will then set onthe variable data storage mechanism 24 the amount of the purchase madeby the customer. Having performed all of these preliminary steps, theclerk will then take the data board 10 to a common data recordingmachine 52, (which may serve several clerks) and insert it therein. Thedata board 10 has downwardly depending legs 80 on either side See FIG.6. The board is inserted by placing the downwardly depending legs 80into corresponding tracks 82 formed in the frame 54 of the datarecording machine 52. This position is shown with data board in phantomoutline in FIG. 4.

In order to properly position the board in the recording position, eachof the depending legs 80 has a pair of rounded connecting tabs 84 (FIG.6) which mate with tab receiving slots 86 formed in the tracks 82 (FIG.7).

The board is then pushed into the machine with the tabs 84 sliding inthe tracks 82. This will maintain the frame 11 above the printing wheelsduring insertion and prevent interference of parts.

As the board is pushed into the machine, the depending pins 36 from theslide members 28 below the retainer plate 30 will strike theircorresponding tabs 58 of the sensing rods 56, and will move the rods adistance corresponding to the distance which the slide members havemoved away from the 0 position. This linear movement of the rods 56 willbe translated through the gear mechanism to the variable characterprinting wheels 62a 62e.'Thus each character wheel will be rotated tothe number which corresponds to the position shown on the face plate 50of the variable data storage mechanism 24. At the fully insertedposition, the tabs 82 will drop into the tab receiving slots 84,dropping the data board into recording position. When the board isthuscompletely inserted into the machine,

- the platen head mechanism 78 is actuated to press the form against thevarious printing members to print the information from the credit card,the station plate and dater, and the variable character printing wheelsonto the form. In the illustratedmachine, this is done by moving theplaten from the home position completely to the right and returning itto starting position. As soon as this printing operation has beenaccomplished, the data board can be removed from the machine by merelywithdrawing it, and the form 22 and the credit card removed from thedata board. Then the'proper carbon copy of the form and credit card isreturned to the customer. The rods 56 are returned manually in thisembodiment, rather than by other operating structure.

Thus, it can be seen that all of the initial set-up work of insertingthe variable data, inserting the credit card and inserting the forms isdone on a separate data board apart from the recording machine, and thatthe only function that the recording machines performs it to actuallysense the preprogrammed variable data and record this together with thedata carried by the credit card, the station plate and the dater. Therecording machine is not tied'up for the period of time that isnecessary'to insert the credit card and the form and to set the variabledata. Hence, this allows a single machine to serve a plurality of databoards carried by the different clerks and greatly reduces the number ofrecording machines that will be required by virtue of the facts that onerecording machine can serve several data recording boards. The datarecording boards being much less expensive than the recording machines,this provides a positive and substantial saving, while increasing theefficiency of the clerks.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a slightly modified form of slide mechanism isshown incorporated in a data board. FIG. 4 is a sectional view similarto the view of FIG. 2.

In this embodiment, slide member 28' is provided which has a nylonroller member 32', but wherein the upwardly extending stem 34'terminates in the opening or slot 26'. In this case, a depression 35 isformed in the top of the stem 34 so that the slide member 28' is adaptedto be operated by means of a stylus, such as the point of a pencil. Thisconfiguration may be desirable where the space available for thevariable data storage mechanism is somewhat limited. By making the slidestylus-operated, the spacing between the slide member 28 may be greatlyreduced inasmuch as clearance of the fingers between the caps 40 is notrequired Otherwise, the device operates in a similar manner to thedevice shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, and previously described.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for transferring data from a printing plate andadjustable printing elements to sheet material, said apparatuscomprising a frame, a plurality of adjustable printing elements movablymounted on said frame, each of said printing elements including aplurality of characters which are movable between inactive positions anda printing position upon'movement of the associated one of said printingelements relative to said frame, a plurality of drive means each ofwhich is associated with one of said adjustable printing elements foreffecting movement of the associated printing element relative to saidframe, a data board movable from a position spaced from said frame to arecording position in which said data board is operatively con nectedwith said frame, first holder means for holding a printing plate in aprinting position relative to said frame, second holder means forholding sheet material in a predetermined relationship with saidprinting elements and printing plate, operator means mounted on saiddata board for activating at least some of said plurality of drive meansduring movement of said data board from a position spaced from saidframe to the recording. position to effect movement of predeterminedcharacters on at least someof said printing elements to their printingpositions, said operator means including a plurality of presettableactuator means mounted on said data board and movable to any one of aplurality of settings relative to said data board for engaging anassociated one of said drive means as said data board is moved towardthe recording position and for effecting operation of the associated oneof said drive means to an extent corresponding to the setting of theassociated one of said actuator means during continued movement of saiddata board toward the recording position, and printing means mounted onsaid frame for effecting a transmittal of datafrom both the printingplate in the printing position and said printing elements to the sheetmaterial when said data board is in the recording position.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim I wherein said operator meansincludes a plurality of manually engageable key means projectingoutwardly from one side of said data board and operatively connected toan associated one of said actuator means for moving the associatedactuator means to a selected one of said plurality of settings, andindicia means disposed on said one side of said data board forcooperating with said 3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid first holder means is disposed on said data board and holds theprinting plate in a predetermined position relative to both said databoard and said frame when said data board is in the recording position.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said second holder meansincludes gripper means mounted on said data board for holding the sheetmaterial in a superposed relationship with the printing plate.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said drive meansincludes a rack gear mounted for reciprocating movement relative to saidframe and a pinion gear disposed in meshing engagement with said rackgear and operatively connected with one of said printing elements, eachof said actuator means being engageable with an associated one of saidrack gears as said data board is moved toward the recording position.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said actuatormeans includes an input element mounted on said data board and movablerelative thereto along a predetermined path and means for defining aplurality of settings along said path and for releasably holding saidinput element at a setting corresponding to a predetermined one of thecharacters on the associated one of said printing elements.

7. An apparatus for use with a data recording machine to transfer datafrom a printing plate and adjustable printing elements to sheetmaterial, said apparatus comprising a data board movable from a positionspaced from the machine to a recording position in which said data boardis in a'working relation with the machine, first holder means on saiddata board for holding a printing plate in a predetermined position onsaid data board to locate the printing plate relative to the machinewhen said data board is in the recording position, second holder meanson said data board for holding sheet material in juxtaposition with theprinting elements and printing plate when said data board is in therecordingposition, and operator means connected with said data board foreffecting an indexing of the printing elements during movement of saiddata board from a position spaced from the machine to the recordingposition, said operator means including a plurality of-presettable inputmeans movable to any one ofa pluralit y of settings relative to saiddata board for activating an indexing mechanism in the machine to indexthe printing elements to positions corresponding to the settings of saidinput means as said data board is moved to the recording position, guidemeans connected with said data board for defining a plurality of pathsalong which said input means are movable, each of said paths beingassociated with one of said input means, and retainer means for defininga plurality of settings along each of said paths and for releasablyholding said input means at settings corresponding to predeterminedpositions to which the printing elements are to be indexed upon movementof said data board to the recording position.

8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said data board furtherincludes means for defining an opening for projection therethrough ofthe printing elements when said data board is in the recording position,said second holder means retaining the sheet material on said data boardin a position extending over the opening to enable data to betransferred from the printing elements to the sheet material when saiddata board is in the recording position.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein each of said input meansincludes a manually engageable member projecting from one side of saiddata board for effecting movement of said input means along theassociated one of said paths to adjust the setting of said input means,and wherein said apparatus further in cludes indicia means on said databoard for indicating the settings of said plurality of input means.

10. An apparatus for transferring data from adjustable printing elementsto sheet material, said apparatus comprising a frame, a plurality ofadjustable printing elements movably mounted on said frame, each of saidprinting elements including a plurality of characters which are movablebetween inactive positions and a printing position upon movement of theassociated one of said printing elements 'relatiye to said frame, aplurality of drive means each of which is associated with one of saidadjustable printing elements for effecting movement of the associatedprinting element relative to said frame, a data board movable from aposition spaced from said frame to a recording position in which saiddata board is operatively connected with said frame, holder means onsaid data board for holding sheet material in a predeterminedrelationship with said printing elements when said data board is in therecording position, operator means mounted on said data board foractivating at least some of said plurality of drive means duringmovement of said data board from a position spaced from said frame tothe recording position to effect movement of predetermined characters onat least some of said printing elements to their printing positions,said operator means including a plurality of presettable actuator meansmounted on said data board and movable to any one of a plurality ofsettings relative to said data board for engaging an associated one ofsaid drive means as said data board is moved toward the recordingposition and for effecting operation of the associated one of said drivemeans to an extent corresponding to the setting'of the associated one ofsaid actuator means during continued movement of said data board towardthe recording position and means for defining a plurality of settings ofsaid actuator means and for holding releasably said actuator means atsettings corresponding to predetermined positions of associated printingelements, said apparatus further including printing means mounted onsaid frame for effecting a transmittal of data from said printingelements to the sheet material when saiddata board is in the recordingposition.

11. An apparatus as set forth'in claim 10 wherein said operator meansfurther includes a plurality of manually engageable key means projectingoutwardly from one side of said data board and operatively connected toan associated one of said actuator means for moving the associatedactuator means to a selected one of said plurality of settings, andindicia means disposed on said one side of said board for cooperatingwith said key means to indicate the setting of the associated one ofsaid actuator means relative'to said data board.

12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 10 further including means onsaid data board for holding a printing plate in juxtaposition with thesheet material when the sheet material is held by said holder means.

13. An apparatus for transferring data from a printing plate andadjustable printing elements to sheet material, said apparatuscomprising a frame, a plurality of adjustable printing elements movablymounted on said frame, each of said printing elements including aplurality of characters which are movable between inactive positions anda printing position upon movement of the associated one of said printingelements relative to said frame, a plurality of drive means each ofwhich is associated with one of said adjustable printing elements foreffecting movement of the associated printing element relative to saidframe, each of said drive means including a rack gear mounted forreciprocating movement relative to said frame and a pinion gear disposedin meshing engagement with said rack gear, a data board movable from aposition spaced from said frame to a recording position in which saiddata board is operatively connected with said frame, first holder meanson said data board for holding a printing plate in a predeterminedposition on said data board to locate the printing plate relative tosaid frame when said data board is in the recording position, grippermeans mounted on said data board for holding sheet material in apredetermined relationship with said printing elements and printingplate when said data board is in the recordingposition, operator meansmounted on said data board for activating atleast some of said pluralityof drive means during movement of said data board from a position spacedfrom said frame to the recording position to effect movement ofpredetermined characters on at least some of said printing elements totheir printing positions, said operator means including a plurality ofpresettable actuator means mounted on said data board and movable to anyone of a plurality of settings relative to said data board for engagingan associated one of said drive means as said data board is moved towardthe recording position and for effecting relative movement between therack and pinion gears in the associated one of said drive means to anextent corresponding to the setting of the associated one of saidactuator means during continued movement of said data board toward therecording position, said actuator means including an input elementmounted on said data board and movable relative thereto along apredetermined path and means for defining a plurality of settings alongsaid path and for releasably holding said input element at a settingcorresponding to a predetermined one of the characters on the associatedone of said printing elements, and printing means mounted on said framefor effecting a transmittal of data from both said plate and saidprinting elements to the sheet material when said data board is in therecording position.

1. An apparatus for transferring data from a printing plate andadjustable printing elements to sheet material, said apparatuscomprising a frame, a plurality of adjustable printing elements movablymounted on said frame, each of said printing elements including aplurality of characters which are movable between inactive positions anda printing position upon movement of the associated one of said printingelements relative to said frame, a plurality of drive means each ofwhich is associated with one of said adjustable printing elements foreffecting movement of the associated printing element relative to saidframe, a data board movable from a position Spaced from said frame to arecording position in which said data board is operatively connectedwith said frame, first holder means for holding a printing plate in aprinting position relative to said frame, second holder means forholding sheet material in a predetermined relationship with saidprinting elements and printing plate, operator means mounted on saiddata board for activating at least some of said plurality of drive meansduring movement of said data board from a position spaced from saidframe to the recording position to effect movement of predeterminedcharacters on at least some of said printing elements to their printingpositions, said operator means including a plurality of presettableactuator means mounted on said data board and movable to any one of aplurality of settings relative to said data board for engaging anassociated one of said drive means as said data board is moved towardthe recording position and for effecting operation of the associated oneof said drive means to an extent corresponding to the setting of theassociated one of said actuator means during continued movement of saiddata board toward the recording position, and printing means mounted onsaid frame for effecting a transmittal of data from both the printingplate in the printing position and said printing elements to the sheetmaterial when said data board is in the recording position.
 2. Anapparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said operator means includes aplurality of manually engageable key means projecting outwardly from oneside of said data board and operatively connected to an associated oneof said actuator means for moving the associated actuator means to aselected one of said plurality of settings, and indicia means disposedon said one side of said data board for cooperating with said key meansto indicate the setting of the associated one of said actuator meansrelative to said data board.
 3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1wherein said first holder means is disposed on said data board and holdsthe printing plate in a predetermined position relative to both saiddata board and said frame when said data board is in the recordingposition.
 4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said secondholder means includes gripper means mounted on said data board forholding the sheet material in a superposed relationship with theprinting plate.
 5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each ofsaid drive means includes a rack gear mounted for reciprocating movementrelative to said frame and a pinion gear disposed in meshing engagementwith said rack gear and operatively connected with one of said printingelements, each of said actuator means being engageable with anassociated one of said rack gears as said data board is moved toward therecording position.
 6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein eachof said actuator means includes an input element mounted on said databoard and movable relative thereto along a predetermined path and meansfor defining a plurality of settings along said path and for releasablyholding said input element at a setting corresponding to a predeterminedone of the characters on the associated one of said printing elements.7. An apparatus for use with a data recording machine to transfer datafrom a printing plate and adjustable printing elements to sheetmaterial, said apparatus comprising a data board movable from a positionspaced from the machine to a recording position in which said data boardis in a working relation with the machine, first holder means on saiddata board for holding a printing plate in a predetermined position onsaid data board to locate the printing plate relative to the machinewhen said data board is in the recording position, second holder meanson said data board for holding sheet material in juxtaposition with theprinting elements and printing plate when said data board is in therecording position, and operator means connected with said data boardfor effecting an Indexing of the printing elements during movement ofsaid data board from a position spaced from the machine to the recordingposition, said operator means including a plurality of presettable inputmeans movable to any one of a plurality of settings relative to saiddata board for activating an indexing mechanism in the machine to indexthe printing elements to positions corresponding to the settings of saidinput means as said data board is moved to the recording position, guidemeans connected with said data board for defining a plurality of pathsalong which said input means are movable, each of said paths beingassociated with one of said input means, and retainer means for defininga plurality of settings along each of said paths and for releasablyholding said input means at settings corresponding to predeterminedpositions to which the printing elements are to be indexed upon movementof said data board to the recording position.
 8. An apparatus as setforth in claim 7 wherein said data board further includes means fordefining an opening for projection therethrough of the printing elementswhen said data board is in the recording position, said second holdermeans retaining the sheet material on said data board in a positionextending over the opening to enable data to be transferred from theprinting elements to the sheet material when said data board is in therecording position.
 9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein eachof said input means includes a manually engageable member projectingfrom one side of said data board for effecting movement of said inputmeans along the associated one of said paths to adjust the setting ofsaid input means, and wherein said apparatus further includes indiciameans on said data board for indicating the settings of said pluralityof input means.
 10. An apparatus for transferring data from adjustableprinting elements to sheet material, said apparatus comprising a frame,a plurality of adjustable printing elements movably mounted on saidframe, each of said printing elements including a plurality ofcharacters which are movable between inactive positions and a printingposition upon movement of the associated one of said printing elementsrelative to said frame, a plurality of drive means each of which isassociated with one of said adjustable printing elements for effectingmovement of the associated printing element relative to said frame, adata board movable from a position spaced from said frame to a recordingposition in which said data board is operatively connected with saidframe, holder means on said data board for holding sheet material in apredetermined relationship with said printing elements when said databoard is in the recording position, operator means mounted on said databoard for activating at least some of said plurality of drive meansduring movement of said data board from a position spaced from saidframe to the recording position to effect movement of predeterminedcharacters on at least some of said printing elements to their printingpositions, said operator means including a plurality of presettableactuator means mounted on said data board and movable to any one of aplurality of settings relative to said data board for engaging anassociated one of said drive means as said data board is moved towardthe recording position and for effecting operation of the associated oneof said drive means to an extent corresponding to the setting of theassociated one of said actuator means during continued movement of saiddata board toward the recording position and means for defining aplurality of settings of said actuator means and for holding releasablysaid actuator means at settings corresponding to predetermined positionsof associated printing elements, said apparatus further includingprinting means mounted on said frame for effecting a transmittal of datafrom said printing elements to the sheet material when said data boardis in the recording position.
 11. An apparatus as set forth in claim 10wherein said operator means further includes a plurality of manuallyengageable key means projecting outwardly from one side of said databoard and operatively connected to an associated one of said actuatormeans for moving the associated actuator means to a selected one of saidplurality of settings, and indicia means disposed on said one side ofsaid board for cooperating with said key means to indicate the settingof the associated one of said actuator means relative to said databoard.
 12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 10 further including meanson said data board for holding a printing plate in juxtaposition withthe sheet material when the sheet material is held by said holder means.13. An apparatus for transferring data from a printing plate andadjustable printing elements to sheet material, said apparatuscomprising a frame, a plurality of adjustable printing elements movablymounted on said frame, each of said printing elements including aplurality of characters which are movable between inactive positions anda printing position upon movement of the associated one of said printingelements relative to said frame, a plurality of drive means each ofwhich is associated with one of said adjustable printing elements foreffecting movement of the associated printing element relative to saidframe, each of said drive means including a rack gear mounted forreciprocating movement relative to said frame and a pinion gear disposedin meshing engagement with said rack gear, a data board movable from aposition spaced from said frame to a recording position in which saiddata board is operatively connected with said frame, first holder meanson said data board for holding a printing plate in a predeterminedposition on said data board to locate the printing plate relative tosaid frame when said data board is in the recording position, grippermeans mounted on said data board for holding sheet material in apredetermined relationship with said printing elements and printingplate when said data board is in the recording position, operator meansmounted on said data board for activating at least some of saidplurality of drive means during movement of said data board from aposition spaced from said frame to the recording position to effectmovement of predetermined characters on at least some of said printingelements to their printing positions, said operator means including aplurality of presettable actuator means mounted on said data board andmovable to any one of a plurality of settings relative to said databoard for engaging an associated one of said drive means as said databoard is moved toward the recording position and for effecting relativemovement between the rack and pinion gears in the associated one of saiddrive means to an extent corresponding to the setting of the associatedone of said actuator means during continued movement of said data boardtoward the recording position, said actuator means including an inputelement mounted on said data board and movable relative thereto along apredetermined path and means for defining a plurality of settings alongsaid path and for releasably holding said input element at a settingcorresponding to a predetermined one of the characters on the associatedone of said printing elements, and printing means mounted on said framefor effecting a transmittal of data from both said plate and saidprinting elements to the sheet material when said data board is in therecording position.